Things to share from my business journey

Getting Things Done with GTD

Do you have a system at work that resembles more of an organised chaos, with a desk hidden beneath layers of print outs, proofs, and post-it notes?

If you are craving a minimalistic desk likened to that of your accountant’s and looking for a more effective way of managing your time, the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology might be your answer.

Created by productivity consultant David Allen, GTD surrounds improving productivity and reducing stress by effectively managing tasks and the efforts required to execute them. This is done by documenting everything that needs doing – now and in the future, professionally and personally – rather than relying on your internal memory.

Using a series of workflow management stages, input material which might be used to typically jog the memory (like notes and calendar items) is collated and then processed based on the type of action that each task requires. GTD proposes that if a task is going to take less than two minutes, do it. If you are not the right person to be doing that task, delegate it. Or if it needs to be done at a later date, then defer it. A date-based filing system is then used for storage and future retrieval of information, replacing the need for you to remember it yourself.

GTD might be for you should you want to improve your productivity and help free up your mind from information that you don’t always need. Interested? Read Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (Penguin Books) or visit the dedicated David Allen website for more information. Organised chaos is, after all, still chaos.